The Best Way to Post a Video for Friends & Family Only

The Internet can be a wonderful way to stay in contact friends and family members and to share with them photos and videos. However, it can also be confusing trying to figure out how to protect things you post online. You may be fine with those you know viewing a video but have no desire to allow strangers access to it. There are options available that will help you keep videos you upload private.

Use Privacy Options

Decide which video hosting website you want to use. While the online video market once was dominated by YouTube, there are now many other choices available, such as Photobucket and Flickr (see Resources). Once you've found one you like, sign up for an account so that you may upload videos to the site. Familiarize yourself with the guidelines and rules of the website. There can be viewing, publishing, uploading and file requirements, so take the time to learn everything that goes into posting your videos on this particular site.

Since most popular sites don't offer the privacy options until after the video is uploaded, you'll need to upload your video before you can select them. Most sites have streamlined the uploading process and made it simple to follow. After the upload is completed, you'll have many options for customizing and finalizing your video. On YouTube, one option is to choose if you want the video to be public or private. Under private, there are two options. The first will generate a private Web address you can then share with friends and family. Note that only 25 people will be able to use this Web address to view the video. The second private option is to share the video with up to 25 of your YouTube friends. Only those users of the site that you have become friends with are eligible for access to the video under this option.

Popular photo hosting websites also allow you to upload video and can offer privacy options. One privacy option for Photobucket users is to make their entire photo and video collection private but to also provide a password to log in and view them. This password could then be given to friends and family and would allow them to log in and view your video. Such privacy options can be found under the account settings.

No matter where you choose to upload your videos, keep in mind that no Internet security is unbreakable. However minuscule, there is a chance that even videos listed as private could end up being viewed by people you have not authorized. Be careful when uploading sensitive or personal videos. You may be better off not risking having them viewed by unauthorized viewers.